Transcription by Ike Hamill Read Free Book Online Page B

dates are years apart. There could be any number of instigators.”
    I paused at that. Jeremy was a man of logic, and he was never going to believe the theory bouncing around in my head. I barely believed it—that’s why I was investigating. But, I needed a confidant. Maybe a man of logic was exactly the person who could help me put this thing in the proper context. I decided to tell him what I knew.
    “That’s nonsense,” he said.
    “Right. I know. But, if it’s not, think of the possibilities.”
    “For what?”
    “For understanding the nature of man. For understanding the root of evil, and evil deeds. What if we find out that there’s something beyond free will that causes people to do evil? If we could find the source, then maybe we could help squelch the effect. Maybe we could decrease the amount of pain and suffering in the world.”
    “Some people just have bad brain chemistry,” he said. “Other people were warped by the terrible cycle of circumstances in which they were raised. There’s no external force other than those that causes evil. Evil is not a thing, it’s just what we call antisocial behavior.”
    “I know. Believe me, I know. But what if in some cases it’s not. Look at these men, and all the pain they’ve caused. Seventy-three murders—can you imagine how many ‘terrible cycles’ they were responsible for creating? Imagine the evil deeds they perpetrated as the effects spread out through the people they touched. Can you imagine how much pain and suffering came from their hands?”
    Jeremy took a moment to process what I was saying. His response was slow and deliberate. “You’re right—they’ve caused terrible pain. You might be able to make a case that the criminal justice system had a hand in creating, or at least not recognizing, these monsters. That’s a far cry from your hypothesis.”
    “But look,” I said. I had my folders with me. I fanned them out, letting him see all of the correspondence. “I’ve got letters from fifty inmates here. All of them were in contact with these four men before and after they stayed in that cell. They all describe the same changes.”
    “Prisoners are locked in a tight, boring environment. Of course they would invent a mythology and spread it amongst themselves,” he said. But, as he was talking, he was looking through the letters. The dates of incarceration were very different—in four different clumps. Despite the time difference between the accounts, the language was very much the same. People used the words “inhabited,” “haunted,” and “possessed.” I even had a few letters from guards. They said the same things.
    These four men, despite the fact that they were inmates, could pass for pretty normal guys. Then, at some point while staying in that cell, they became some of the most dangerous murderers the state has known. Reading the accounts of their crimes, one would think they were all committed by the same twisted mind. They all showed a reckless disdain for laws and human life. They seemed determined to cause mayhem and destroy happiness. And, they did it all with very little concern for their own well-being.  
    “The similarities are striking,” Jeremy said. “Did they just copy each other?”
    “I’m sure it’s a possibility. My gut says no, though. Look at Al Hudson. He had the lowest body count, because he didn’t take any pains to hide his craziness. David Mitchell waited until he was paroled. On the outside, he was able to rack up quite a few more crimes before he was taken down again. If anything, he didn’t copy Al, he improved on him. It’s the same with Hopkins and Poole. But, even though they weren’t committing crimes right away, everyone seemed to see the change. With Mitchell, the parole board overlooked his recent change and judged him on his behavior before his hearing. One of the board members even said that Mitchell seemed disturbed, but that was probably due to stress in the face of his